This invention relates to the aerospace industry. More specifically, the invention advances the current capabilities of in space refueling procedures for long missions and expands the distance that spacecrafts can travel by allowing spacecrafts to refuel during their stages in orbit.
There are currently no other platforms in orbit that can perform a refueling operation on this level, as current designs are too bulky and limited in size due to mass considerations. The invention is a fuel depot placed in orbit to allow for refueling. The fuel depot is able to collapse down to a manageable size for a single launch into orbit and then to fully expand autonomously to its full size once in orbit. This saves money and space associated with launching this craft. The station is also fully autonomous, making the need for personnel to run the platform non-existent.
The invention includes ‘inflatable’ fuel tanks with telescoping rods allowing them to fully collapse into themselves reducing the overall size of the tanks at the time of launch. The skin of the tanks are made out of a lightweight material, such as Mylar, that is also durable enough to withstand the negative pressures of space while safely containing fuel.
The fuel depot includes at least one fuel tank, a guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) system, hypergolic thrusters, a pump, and a plurality of solar panels. In one embodiment of the fuel depot includes five tanks to accommodate the potential need of the customer. Two of the tanks are used to store liquid oxygen (LOX), two are used to store rocket grade kerosene (RP1), and the final tank is used as a reserve/fail safe in the event of a catastrophic failure of one of the aforementioned tanks.